The origin of the sarcophagus in Bishagang Park, Zhengzhou
To commemorate the soldiers killed in the Second Army of the Northern Expedition National Revolutionary Army, Feng Yuxiang allocated 200,000 yuan successively, and instructed the traffic commander Xu to build a cemetery for the soldiers killed in the Northern Expedition. At that time, 4 kilometers west of Zhengzhou, there was a loess hill, which was the end of Meishan extending from southwest to northeast. Locals call it Baishagang. It is full of wind and sand all the year round, forming undulating sand dunes.
Because crops could not be planted, nearby villagers planted trees on the post to prevent wind and fix sand. Building a cemetery here does not occupy the cultivated land of ordinary people, which is exactly what General Feng wants. So Xu Xiangyun bought 400 acres of land to build a cemetery at this time.
The cemetery started in March of 1928 and was completed in August of that year. Feng Yuxiang named the cemetery "Bishagang", which means loyalty and is full of blood and yellow sand. Feng Yuxiang personally wrote Bishagang, and the carved stone was embedded in the north gate.
There is also a memorial pavilion in the cemetery. There is a white marble stone tablet in the center of the pavilion, with four characters of loyalty and righteousness engraved on the front, which was personally inscribed by General Feng Yuxiang.
Extended data:
When Bishagang Northern Expedition Memorial Cemetery was completed, it was composed of four parts. In the middle of the cemetery is the martyrs' shrine, which is divided into two halls, north and south, with red walls and green tiles, and the weather is solemn. There are various commemorative plaques hanging in the Martyrs' Temple, and bronze medals engraved with the names of martyrs, gold books and inscriptions recording the achievements of martyrs are stored.
In front of the ancestral hall is Zhongshan Park, with three pavilions for nationalities, civil rights and people's livelihood, as well as a pool and a stone bridge. Behind the ancestral hall is an open cemetery for martyrs, with each tomb two meters apart. Southeast of the Martyrs Cemetery is the People's Livelihood Cemetery, where the families of officers and men are buried. There is a boundary pillar between the Martyrs Cemetery and the People's Livelihood Cemetery.
General Feng Yuxiang had planned to further expand Bishagang Park. In the article "In Memory of Bishagang", he revealed that he hoped to build a sanatorium for disabled soldiers on the left side of the Martyrs Temple, "as gorgeous and beautiful as all government ministries", and build a school for martyrs and orphans on the right side.
Baidu encyclopedia-bishagang park